Roughly spoken there are two types of stability according to my ancient textbooks. One is the thermodynamic stability. The more energy you have to put into a system to change it, the more stable it is. In some systems the change is reversible: take away the energy, and the system returns to the starting point with the same energy.

The other one is kinetic metastability or metastability. The system looks stable, but if enough energy is put into it, it changes irreversibly into a system with lower energy than the starting point. This is because there is an underlying set of captured energy which needs a push - big or small - to be released.

The most dramatic example is explosives. Push an explosive too hard, and it blows up.

I think the political establishment - in UK, in the US, in France - have neglected the buildup of energy. So the sudden release of energy came as a surprise.

I think this is more general than a presidential election or a referendum. Lots of people have been deprived of or feel deprived of a possibility of those small-scale and rather humble victories of obtaining work, families an friends.

OK - most losers are not dangerous. But I believe recruitment of dangerous people is easier among losers. Proactive high-quality politics would be concentrated on preventing people becoming or feeling like losers.

So I predict (or maybe I just hope) that the Trump victory may be a wake-up call for the well-meaning people who have made themselves believe that it is OK being content with the present situation and by consolidating it by doing nothing.

for the past week there is a nasty and relentless khamsin blowing in my region.
a few nights ago, while a dish of water was rapidly evaporating next to my head, i drifted into a tormented sleep accompanied by my old friend pazuzu...

so, while checking the data from my weather station, which showed 10 to 15% humidity, chilly eastern wind of 50km/h and gusts close to 80km/h, i could almost understand people who kept an amulet/statuette of my dear friend. he may be the bringer of drought and famine but maybe you can beg, appease or reason with him. besides, there are far worse things to be afraid of...

apparently, a demon beats a synoptic chart any day of of the week.
a scientist is not responsible for the laws of nature or for his prediction, a demon IS.

regardless, i would LOVE having such a statuette.
a few years ago i was tempted to buy two such statuettes, one of ishtar and one of baal.
they were 1.5 inch tall and amazingly detailed.
i could almost see them in a small niche in my house, "doing their thing" protecting the household, shrouded in silence, candlelight and incense ;)
problem was, there was a 4500$ price tag attached. damn those pricey demons/gods!

>> Proactive high-quality politics would be concentrated on preventing people becoming or feeling like losers.

http://cloudindx.com

you cannot control the weather afaik. we are all losers. or are we?

relapso

Old winds and old gods that I never would have known.(22/11/16 13:29:49)

With our standard breed of politicians I am used to words signalling intelligence, reflection and integrity. What I see is different.

With Trump we hear stupidity, disrespect for truth and rudeness. If the Press is correct (and I will not go to the sources to see for myself), Trump twitters rather revolting tweets.

Is this because he is like he present himself, or is he planning something different, but tweeting like he does to keep those who voted for him happy?

If he wants to make America Great Again (TM), he cannot build an industrial rebuild on coal and steel and gas guzzling cars - he has to channel the US into sustainable and environmentally improved production. If he doesn't, he will in practice leave that very interesting market to industries in Europe and China. So I think he will make moves towards a green shift without admitting it to the shareholders in the dirty industries or the laid-off workers in those industries. But gradually he will be shifting his rhetoric, like he has been shifting it before. We've seen some of it in his speeches. I think he really has an ambition of going into history as a great president. Wishful thinking can do little harm.

I said something like that when Obama came to power. I think he has disappointed me. So I'm in for a new round.

e

come again

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